WAG’s Norman Rockwell Exhibition Held Over for Extra Week

Winnipeg, May 11, 2012: The Winnipeg Art Gallery has announced that due to the enormous success of American Chronicles: The Art of Norman Rockwell, the exhibition will be extended by one week until Sunday, May 27. It was originally scheduled to close on May 20. The Gallery is also open until 9pm on Thursday and Friday nights for the duration of the show, and will have extended hours (10am to 10pm) for the final four days of the run (May 24-27).

“This exhibition has obviously resonated with the people of Winnipeg, Manitoba, and many other communities,” says WAG Executive Director Stephen Borys. “Clearly having the original works of art from the finest Rockwell collection in the world has made a big difference to our audiences, as do the many issues, events, ideas, and emotions so well documented by the artist. By the time the show closes on May 27, we expect close to 30,000 people will have seen the exhibition, including thousands of school children from across the city and province.”

School tours for the exhibition were so popular the WAG opened the Gallery for schools only on Mondays, a day when the WAG is normally closed to the public. A wide range of programming, including talks by the artist’s son Peter Rockwell, guided tours, art workshops, a Family Sunday pancake breakfast, and more gave visitors the opportunity to explore Rockwell’s works from many angles.

Borys adds that, “We are really pleased that Rockwell visitors also took in the WAG’s permanent collection galleries and other exhibitions; apparently they liked what they saw as new memberships increased by over 300% during the Rockwell exhibition. As the WAG approaches its 100th anniversary this fall, the impressive growth at the grassroots level is exciting.”

Visiting the exhibition is an “art-encompassing” experience. The entrance to the show features a 12-minute video on the life and work of Norman Rockwell. Audio-tours give visitors the opportunity to learn more about selected images. In the Rockwell Response Zone people can take Rockwell-style photographs of themselves with props and costumes under the Saturday Evening Post banner. Using the art supplies children can create their own Post covers and hang them on the walls. Tying in with Rockwell’s Freedom from…. series, visitors are displaying post-it notes describing what freedom from want, freedom from fear, and free speech mean to them personally.

American Chronicles: The Art of Norman Rockwell is organized by the Norman Rockwell Museum and made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts, American Masterpieces Program. Sponsorship is also provided by the Curtis Publishing Company, the Norman Rockwell Estate Licensing Company, and the Stockman Family Foundation. Presenting Sponsor: Border Glass & Aluminum Local Sponsors: Lindsey Steek & Company, Ricoh, Manitoba Blue Cross, Sigurdson McFadden Benefits & Pensions and Manitoba Lotteries. Local Media Sponsors: Winnipeg Free Press, Pattison Outdoor Advertising, CJOB 68, CTV and Prairie Public Broadcasting.

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Celebrating its centenary from September 2012 to August 2013, the Winnipeg Art Gallery is Canada’s oldest civic art gallery and Manitoba’s leading visual arts institution. With a collection of over 25,000 objects spanning ten centuries—including the world’s largest collection of contemporary Inuit art—the WAG moves between the historical and the contemporary, engaging a growing public with the power of art in our lives.